In Tight Republican Race, DioGuardi Is Chosen to Face Gillibrand

Joseph J. DioGuardi, a former congressman from Westchester County, emerged from a field of little-known candidates on Tuesday as the Republican choice to take on Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand in the November election.

Mr. DioGuardi eked out a narrow victory in a sleepy race — a sign, campaign analysts said, of the formidable odds facing Republicans as they try to unseat Ms. Gillibrand, an upstate Democrat who has made inroads with centrist voters.

With 86 percent of precincts reporting, Mr. DioGuardi had 42 percent of the vote, while David Malpass, a former chief economist at Bear Stearns, had 38 percent. A third candidate, Bruce A. Blakeman, a former Nassau County legislator, trailed with 20 percent.

In a separate Republican primary on Tuesday, Jay Townsend, the founder of a market research and consulting firm in Cornwall-on-Hudson, N.Y., won the right to challenge Charles E. Schumer, the incumbent Democrat, for New York’s other Senate seat.

Mr. Townsend will also face difficult odds. Polls show that Mr. Schumer, first elected in 1998, is a favorite to easily win a third term despite efforts by Republicans to portray him as a creature of Washington who has done little to jump-start the economy.

Mr. Townsend said he was unfazed. “This election is not a referendum on the size of Chuck Schumer’s war chest; it is a referendum on his record,” Mr. Townsend said in a telephone interview. “I intend to make him defend it.”

Ms. Gillibrand was favored over whichever Republican she faced, because she is well financed and well known and has made efforts to build bipartisan support.

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In his victory speech, Mr. DioGuardi acknowledged obstacles he faced. “This is a tough state for a conservative Republican to win in,” Mr. DioGuardi said.

But he added: “The times have changed, the people are angry, they’re mad, and they want change. We’re at the right place at the right time.”

On Tuesday, Ms. Gillibrand handily fended off a long-shot challenge from Gail Goode, a New York City lawyer, in the Democratic primary.

Conservatives hope Ms. Gillibrand’s status as an incumbent will make her vulnerable at a time when populist anger has seized much of the country. Critics say that because she was appointed to the Senate, rather than elected, Ms. Gillibrand may have trouble energizing voters. Gov. David A. Paterson chose Ms. Gillibrand to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton last year; Ms. Gillibrand has never run in a statewide race.

All three of Ms. Gillibrand’s Republican challengers made shaking up Washington and reining in profligate spending a centerpiece of their campaigns. They sought to tie Ms. Gillibrand to Mr. Paterson and to portray her as a darling of the establishment who voted for extravagant federal spending.

Given widespread distress over the economy, each candidate also made a concerted effort to prove his private-sector prowess. Mr. DioGuardi talked up his credentials as a certified public accountant. But no matter how hard the Republicans tried to set themselves apart, Ms. Gillibrand’s perceived strength loomed over the campaign, making it difficult to garner attention from the news media attention or to build vast networks of supporters.

A version of this article appears in print on September 15, 2010, on Page A28 of the New York edition with the headline: In Tight Republican Race, DioGuardi Is Chosen to Face Gillibrand. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe